Prom on an island: Dress-shopping just got a little harder

Thursday

May 10, 2007 at 2:00 AM

By Margaret Carroll-Bergman I&M Staff Writer

For many high school students, the prom is a rite of passage, while for others, it’s a chance to revisit their past – either recent or distant – since the prom on Nantucket is more of a school-wide and in some ways community-wide event than one geared specifically for the junior class.

This Saturday, the prom will be held at the Sconset Casino, one of the island’s oldest and most familiar halls. The theme is “A Day At The Beach,” although no sand will be trucked into the historic Casino and it is expected that formal wear – not swimsuits – will be the attire of choice.

“We don’t want to ruin the floors,” said Tim Psaradelis, junior class advisor, math teacher and Nantucket High School Class of 1997.

The prom has been held in recent years at the Miacomet Golf Club, Westmoor Farm and the Point Breeze Hotel, and many other fashionable locations, and the level or preparation has been as varied as the activities and philosophies of the students themselves.

When Psaradelis was in school, he just showed up to his prom.

“I was into sports and surfed. I did not help organize the prom,” he said. “It’s funny now being in this position, seeing how much work there is.”

Cheryl Killen Coffin and Stephanie Hanson remember the prom as if it were yesterday. Both women work in the high school’s front office and have fond memories of the island bands which played at the proms.

“I don’t remember the name of the band,” said Coffin with a laugh, “But I do remember Ricky Kalman, Frank Lindley, Tom Devine and Herbie Cabral had a great band.” Hanson agreed that live music was more fun.

“We had our prom in the old CPS (Cyrus Peirce School) gym,” added Coffin, a member of the Class of 1972.

“Stephanie was a year behind me, but all classes went to the junior prom. Don’t ask me why, but we had a 60-foot rocket made out of wood and cardboard. It’s a fun rite of passage. You get to stay out all night.”

Missy Holden is looking forward to her prom. Although Holden has gone to other school proms, being a junior going to prom is special, she said.

Holden and a group of friends plan to go to the Brotherhood for dinner before the dance and then attend the breakfast.

She ordered her dress on the Internet, but shoes still remain a problem.

“We haven’t figured out the shoes and where they are coming from,” said Missy’s mother, Betsy Holden.

Most girls shop for prom dresses off-island. There are a couple of boutiques in Hyannis which sell gowns and Marshall’s or Filene’s Basement might have a prom dress or two among the sale racks. Some girls have traveled as far as Newbury Street in Boston for the elusive dress, and last Friday, one student was not in school, but shopping for her gown in New York.

Boys have it a bit easier. For decades, Robert’s Tuxedo in Fall River has come to the school and set up shop under the whale skeleton in the Hall of Flags. A rack of tuxedos, shirts, cummerbunds, ties, and shoes and a tailor with a tape-measure were on duty in the lobby. Boys came from the cafeteria after eating lunch, get measured, and are given a ticket – the whole transaction lasts about five minutes per boy.

“You come back the day before the prom and you pick up your tux,” said Nigel Koester, a junior, who will be wearing a black tux with white pinstripes.

Koester and his date will also go out to dinner before the prom and attend the breakfast. “It’s fun to see everyone get together again,” said Koester. “At other school dances, people stand in the corner. At this dance, people are dancing and anything goes.”

Principal George Kelly’s daughter, Lauren, a sophomore, will be going to prom this year, yet Kelly will be there in his official role.

“Nantucket has a lot of parents who want to come to prom, which is nice, and kids don’t seem to mind their parents coming and taking pictures,” said Kelly. “It’s a close-knit community in a close-knit school and the prom is a little more informal than the past two high schools where I was. It’s more relaxed. There are a lot of kids who go without dates. “

“It’s an unusual prom,” he added. “It’s referred to as the Junior Prom, but it should be more aptly named the High School Prom. I don’t think a lot of schools have the prom opened up to all four classes.”

While Kelly last danced with one his daughters during a “father-daughter” Girl Scout dance, he seemed agreeable to dancing at this prom.

The traditional after-prom breakfast, which starts at 5 a.m. and is organized by parents and community members, will be at the Maddequet Admiralty Club, the same place where Psaradelis’ prom had their breakfast.

Kids on Nantucket don’t take limos to their prom and for the most part car-pool. But since the big dance is in Sconset this year, Psardelis has arranged for Cranberry Shuttle to take kids from the high school to the Casino and back to the school when the dance ends.

There aren’t many rules governing Nantucket’s junior prom except three: students are asked to come sober, stay until the dance is over, and get permission for off-island dates or dates who are not enrolled at Nantucket High School.

At last year’s prom, principal George Kelly made an exception for sophomore Vincent Sossorano, a native of El Salvador, who wanted to go to the prom with his wife, Maria Kosyrikhina. The young couple married two years ago, when Kosyrikhina, a native of Russia, came to Nantucket for the summer, met Sossorano and fell in love.

Kosyrikhina was not enrolled in school last year, but after the prom, she wanted to finish her education and had her transcripts sent to Nantucket High School where she was enrolled this fall as a senior. Kosyrikhina will graduate in June and is headed to Bridgewater State College, while her husband will finish his senior year on-island.

“We don’t have prom in Russia,” said Kosyrikhina. “It’s like a wedding with a lot of people dressed up and dancing. It was very cool. We stayed until the dance ended.”

While Kosyrikhina will not be going to the prom this year, she is going to her senior ball, which will be held at the Nantucket Yacht Club.

Reach Margaret Carroll-Bergman at mbergman@inkym.com

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